With latest COVID surge, CSU must require students, staff to get vaccinated before fall

The University of California recently announced that it will require all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when they return to campus this fall, joining hundreds of other colleges and universities across the United States that have instituted a COVID vaccine mandate.

But not Fresno State, where we work. And not the rest of the California State University system — which, with 23 campuses across the state and over 480,000 students, is the largest four-year public university system in the country. Our faculty, staff, and students have been encouraged to get vaccinated for our own protection, but we’ve also been told that the CSU will not mandate vaccinations until the Food and Drug Administration provides full approval for one of the COVID-19 vaccines — a move that may be months away.

Unlike many people around the world, Americans are fortunate to have easy access to several safe and remarkably effective vaccines, which have already saved countless lives. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is clear that getting fully vaccinated is by far the best way to avoid COVID-19 and, even more importantly, to prevent hospitalization and death. According to public health experts, the unvaccinated account for over 97% of those now hospitalized and over 99% of recent deaths.

As an institution dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, the CSU has an obligation to stand up for science and to protect its campus populations from preventable harm.

All students, faculty, and staff— including those who are immunocompromised — deserve a safe space for learning and working. Some might not be fully protected by a vaccine simply because they take drugs to suppress the symptoms of asthma, a common malady in the Central Valley. CSU campuses, moreover, are deeply connected to the communities in which they are located. We also have an obligation, in other words, to protect those who come into contact with campus members, particularly children under 12, who do not yet qualify for COVID-19 vaccines and thus will be vulnerable to infection for months to come.

The rapid spread of the highly contagious Delta variant has made a vaccine mandate even more necessary. In the last two weeks, COVID-19 cases have risen by 171%, hospitalizations by 49%, and deaths by 42%. The CSU system has an enormous opportunity to have a positive impact on our families and communities by immediately mandating a vaccine for all of our campuses. If we fail to do so, the consequences will be dire. Dr. Rais Vohra, Fresno County interim health officer, recently summed up the situation in stark terms. “Folks who are unvaccinated,” he said, “are sitting ducks.”

With a January deadline for the FDA to issue its full authorization decision, the current CSU position means we may spend an entire semester in a dangerous environment. Are we comfortable knowing that members of our campus communities will be “sitting ducks” if we allow them to return unvaccinated?

We shouldn’t be. Like most universities, the CSU system already has vaccine mandates for measles, chickenpox, Hepatitis B, and meningococcal disease, among others. In order “to prevent potentially serious and contagious diseases,” students must present proof of vaccination against these diseases. Only medical exemptions are allowed. Adding a COVID-19 mandate to this list makes scientific — and moral — sense. This is why Fresno State’s Academic Senate passed a resolution to do so last semester.

Some critics worry that mandating a vaccine that has yet to receive full FDA authorization will prompt lawsuits, but a CSU system spokesman admitted this spring that “there is no legal basis for waiting for full FDA approval.” And recently a federal judge denied a lawsuit seeking to block Indiana University’s vaccine mandate.

When he was president of Fresno State, Joseph Castro made it clear that he cared deeply about the campus community. He was especially dedicated to our students, who embraced the university motto he announced upon his arrival in 2013: “Be Bold.”

Now that he is chancellor of the entire CSU system, he has the opportunity to live up to this motto on the biggest of stages. We urge Chancellor Castro and the CSU Board of Trustees to help protect the lives and livelihoods of thousands of students, faculty, staff, and their families. Let’s put science and the sanctity of life above myths, politics, and misinformation and do our part to provide a safe space for educating students across California and beyond.

There’s no time to waste. If ever there were a moment to be bold, this is it.

This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.